Arcade Machines, Page 1
 
1910 Caille Happy Home - Peep Show This is a example of a early Caille Brothers peep show. The marquee (which is insufficiently lit in this picture) reads "1 Cent, Peep into a Ladies bedroom". When a patron inserts a penny, the curtained shutter on the front of the house is raised and a lightbulb is turned on inside. The viewer is treated to a three dimensional view of a Ladies bedroom, just as advertised. Of course, no mention was made of a Lady actually being IN the bedroom. ;-) These very early peep shows are rare and seldom seen. I re-created the marquee sign in the background based upon information from fellow collectors. I'd love to get a original Happy Home marquee sign to go with the machine!
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    • 1939 Deluxe Mutoscope Movie Peep Show. In the late 1800's American Mutoscope and Biograph Company began producing moving picture peep shows where, after a coin is inserted, a crank is turned and 1500 cards with photographs are displayed sequentially presenting a flickering, live action motion picture. In 1909 production of the coin operated machines ceased. In the 1920's, Bill Rabkin purchased the rights to produce Mutoscope machines and formed a new company, The International Mutoscope Reel Company. From 1926 until 1949, they produced heavy steel models of the Mutoscope using the same card reels as the earlier machines. Mutoscope viewers are always popular and to this day, reproductions are still being made which can be used with the original picture reels. The 1939 machine shown here was originally in a New Jersey shore penny arcade. The reel contained is a cop's type movie starring the late Charlie Chaplin.
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    • 1930's Shipman Mfg. Co. Coin-op Stereo Peep Show Small, transportable coin operated peep shows were very popular with traveling carnivals. When ten cents is inserted, a internal lightbulb is illuminated and a timer started. The patron looks through the viewer and presses the button on top advancing three dimensional picture image pairs within. The pictures can continue to be viewed until the timer runs out and the lightbulb goes dark. This particular example contains 15 R-rated pictures of woman with very little clothing... a real hit with many carnival goers!
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    1938 Mills Cherry Bell Slot Machine. In 1937 Mills introduced a new, attractive looking slot machine with a horizontal coin escalator. The public nicknamed the new machine 'Bursting Cherry' since it paid off 10 coins when 2 cherries and a bell or lemon turned up rather than the normal 5 coins. The machine was very popular with the public! In 1938, Mills quietly changed the 2 cherries and bell or lemon payout back to 5 coins. This is a 1938 version. Also note the visible jackpot window below the cherry graphics which enticed people to play.
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    • 1940's Advance Electricity Shocker Machine. Advance built penny arcade machines which gave electric shocks from the late 1920's up until around 1950. The machines remained in common use until the 1960's when the apparent danger of such machines to people with pace makers or other medical concerns was noted. This machine entices players by trying to setup a competition to see who can take the biggest jolt. A penny is inserted and the two silver knobs are held, one with each hand. The right hand slowly twists the right knob increasing the voltage (indicated by a mechanical guage on top) until the plater can take no more. Even though the electricity is high voltage, extremely low amperage, thus staying near the skin, the actual jolt felt is quite strong. This is definetly not a game for the weak of heart! A internal six volt battery provides power to a vibrator and step up transformer coil. The battery would have to be changed quite often on location. This machine has the very hard to find instruction marquee on top.
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    • 1960's United Billiards Inc., Bimbo the Clown Bimbo is a animatronic marionette. When a coin is inserted Bimbo talks and sings to music while moving his mouth and his head as well as his body from side to side. In addition the 'player' can help Bimbo dance via buttons on the front console which control left and right arm movement as well as left and right leg movement. The results are amazingly lifelike and fun to watch. In the 1950's, Williams came out with the original 'Peppy the clown'. The clown face used in Bimbo is identical to Peppy.
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    • 1920's Advance Vistascope. In addition to their well known line of Shock Machines, Advance Machine Company also produced several different type's of penny arcade machines. This is a 'Vistascope' produced in the 1920's. A penny is inserted into the coin slot and the lever on the coin mechanism is pressed forward. This wind's a internal clock mechanism and ten stereoview drop cards are then displayed sequentially for the patron. This unit differ's from other drop card machines in that rather than having one set of cards to be displayed, it actually has seven different complete sets of twelve (eighty four cards total). Thus, a player could keep inserting penny's and see seven different shows. Operators would update the cards on a regular basis which kept patrons coming back for more. The Advance machine has a frosted glass window on top which allows light to enter and illuminate the the stereoview cards. Thus, these machines were entirely mechanical and didn't even require electricity for illumination.
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    • Munve's Arcade Love Tester. Full size 'love testers' were ubiquitous in old time penny arcades. A brightly colored marquee combined with a flashing red internal light lured couples to deposit a coin, squeeze the grip and see how their love rates. When a coin is deposited and the handle squeezed, a bell is sounded and the row of colored lights inside flash randomly. When the grip is released, the lights continue to flash for a few seconds and a random 'rating' is lit, much to the amusement of the patron. This particular machine was produced in the early 1960's by Mike Munves arcade company based upon a similar design used by Exhibit Supply Company in the 1940's. This machine remained on location at a arcade in Illinois until being recently retired from service. This love tester was, at some point, converted from it's original one or five cent play to requiring twenty five cents per play.
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    • 1904 Mill's Unit Stereoscope. Mill's first entry into the drop card picture viewer market was the 'Unit Stereoscope'. It has a somewhat plain oak cabinet which sat on counters or a stand. Inside is a completely mechanical clock work mechanism which switch's on a bulb and sequentially displays 15 stereoview cards. The following year (1905) Mill's introduced a full size, more ornate drop card machine called 'Auto-Stereoscope' a model of which can be seen elsewhere on this website. This particular machine currently has a set of provocative, but G-rated pictures of a woman posing in a projection booth. Mill's Sales flyers from the early 1900's state that this model was very popular with traveling carnival's due to it's transportable size.
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  • Arcade Machines, Page 2